1911.] 87 



crawled ixnconcoruedly over liim un the wiiy to the hait. The majority, as 

 might have been expected, flew up from the N.E. — in the opposite direction to 

 the wind — and of those which finally reached the bait from other points of the 

 compass, many were seen in the first place to approach from the N.E., but, 

 having overshot the mark, circled ronnd and came back. Unlike the various 

 species of Diptera, however, which alighted freely upon the carcases, no Coleop- 

 tcra were seen actually to settle upon the baits. The beetles whose arrival was 

 watched whilst still in flght all dropped to the ground some 2 or 3 feet from 

 the objective and then made their way thither on foot as much as possible 

 under cover of the grass, forcing their way through the close-set blades with 

 greedy haste until they finally scuttled under cover of the carcase. One 

 specimen of Necrophorus mspator was seen in flight, whilst still some 20 or 30 

 feet away approaching \ip-wind in a zig-zag manner and rather slowly. AVhen 

 about 3 feet from a dead rat, it settled iipon a tall flowering grass, hastily 

 folded its wings away, dropped cliunsily upon the short grass below and, 

 righting itself, travelled the remaining distance under cover of the short grass. 

 In most cases, however, the beetles were flrst observed diu-ing their journey on 

 foot. The arrivals grew more numerous as decomposition advanced, but fell 

 off rapidly when the baits began to dry up. Many of the Coleoptera identified, 

 (but these were only the larger species) were definitely seen to feed upon the fly 

 larvae which swarmed to such an extent that, at their maximum development, the 

 carcases had a tremtdous movement due to the wriggling of the mass of larvae 

 within. The following species of Coleoptera were seen actually bearing away 

 a fly larva held in their jaws : Aleochara lata, Gr., Creophilus maxillosus, L., 

 Lcistotrophus murinus, L., Silpha rugosa, L., and sinuata, F., Hister cadaverinus, 

 Hoffm., and Saprinus nitidulus, Pk., and seneus, F. An individual Silpha 

 rugosa with the apex of the left elytron badly mutilated was seen twice in 

 an hour with a larva in its jaws, and was still about the carcase on the two 

 following days. A specimen of Leistotrophus murinus also, distinguishable by 

 its unusiially small size, retvirned to one bait at least three times within the 

 hour, emerging with a captured larva. The behaviour of the beetles after the 

 captm-e of their prey varied. The larger species, such as Creophilus, Leisto- 

 trophus, and some of the Silphse and Saprini mentioned, carried their food away 

 into the surrounding grass to eat at leisure. Of these the Leistotrophi were 

 remarkable by reason of the freedom with which they exposed themselves. 

 Unlike the others, which seemed to move over the surface of the carcase only 

 when compelled to do so and phmged into the short grass as soon as possible 

 after capturing their prey, the Leistotrophi coursed gaily over the body when 

 the fancy seized them, and when approaching the bait or after a successful 

 capture, ran with a very rapid, though jerky motion, over the surface of the 

 grass. Many of the beetles, however, appeared to make burrows into the earth, 

 radiating outwards from the carcase, into which they retreated witli their food. 

 In one of these a specimen of Gnathoncus nannetcnsis. Mars., was foimd 

 together with its prey, a small fly larva. 



As regards the Nccrophori, during these observations the earth was too 

 hard for them to burrow into, but some notes were made on their habits several 

 years before in the New Forest. The l)ait (a magpie and several vipers) was 



